Ten Badass Intros in Metal

Feeding time at the Zoo - Exodus

Phone rings…

Zookeeper: Hello?

Caller: The monkey department please..

Zookeeper: Yes, well what is it?

Caller: Oh, I’m interested in purchasing some monkeys

Zookeeper: Yes…

Caller: You understand how this sounds…what types of monkeys do you have?

Zookeeper: Well .. we have the spider monkey, the little capuchin monkey, we have the cinnamon ring tail. .what monkey do you want?

Caller: Well, which are the most tender?

Zookeeper: You mean the, which make the best pet

Caller: No ..I’m interested in making a monkey soup

Zookeeper: a What?!

The riff starts

Sweet Leaf – Black Sabbath

I am guessing this is how they came up with the intro.. they know better…

Iommi: Hey y’all, let’s make a love ballad about weed

Ward, Butler: Yeah man, sounds cool

Ozzy: Fuck yeah, now we’re talking

Iommi: Lets smoke our way into the song..

Ward, Butler: Hey, you sure man, that’ll tick people off

Iommi: Like we ever gave a damn, Haters gonna hate

Ozzy: What smoke? Where?

Iommi: I’ll cough after smoking a joint and lets tape loop the shit out of that ..to make the intro

Ozzy: Not fair you fuckers, I should be the one smoking…

Good job boys. Badass rating: A+

Set the World on fire – Megadeth

Some of them would love it, if they heard The Ink Spots happily singing away ‘I don’t want to set the world on fire’.  Well not the hotheaded Mustaine. He samples the same happy song’s intro layered with a whistling sound of a doomed missile and starts the riff right at booming sound of the warhead’s impact. Now that’s a big load of Megadeth blowing up in your face.

Nothin’ to Lose – Rebel Meets Rebel

If country metal doesn’t give you the picture of what badass is, the intro will show it to you. It starts off voice of Vinnie Paul dealing blackjack,  sound samples of gambling and money; It doesn’t end there, the sound of woman moaning in pleasure and a scratchy guitar riff infused by the great Dimebag Darrell make this as badass as any Texan booze.

The Number of the beast – Iron Maiden

Woe to you, oh earth and sea

For the Devil sends the beast with wrath

Because he knows the time is short

Let him who hath understanding

Reckon the number of the beast

For it is a human number

Its number is six hundred and sixty six

If you ask me, this intro is the most badass on the list. Hey, anything that rattles the balls of brainless social conservatives in enough to make it onto the list. Well done Iron Maiden.

Who we Are – Machine Head

One day I was singing the intro from this song and my friend goes ‘What is that stupid chanting like school kids’. So I immediately get her to listen to the song and she is evidently dumbstruck. Here’s how it goes…

This is who we are

This is what I am

We have nowhere else to go

Divided we will stand

Now, what’s interesting is that you’d never expect a bunch of kids singing something like that. That’s exactly what happens in the intro.

Oh and by the way, it’s none one other than Phil’s son and Flynn’s sons singing in the intro.

Raining Blood – Slayer

A song’s intro that has the ability to send a moshpit into a crazed rampage is worthy enough to be placed on this list. Why is this badass you ask? Anybody who has seen this song live will tell you the answer.

Madhouse – Anthrax

You’d expect a song that is about a psychiatry ward to have a crazy intro right? It does. The nurse goes ‘It’s time for your medication Mr. Brown’ which is immediately replied by a retarded laughter. The riff is no less ‘crazy’.  It’s a madhouse or so they claim.

Maximum Satan – Annihilator

The intro seems pretty random and harmless on the first listen. If you listen closely though, the beast growling in the background seems less threatening than the haphazard news annunciations. The maximum Satan in this song is not about the any immortal beast but about the pure evil in the society. Kudos to Jeff Waters for writing this masterpiece.

Omerta – Lamb of God

Whoever appeals to the law against his fellow man is either a fool or a coward

Whoever cannot take care of himself without that law is both

For a wounded man shall Say to his assailant, "If I live I will kill you, if I die you are forgiven"

Such is the rule of honor

*Riff *

The song is about the honor code in the mafia. No finer example for badass, than this, I say.

Ten amazing metal songs which are painfully sad

Composing a sad song is one of the greatest challenges for any composer. Anyone who has  experimented with music knows this. It is so much more than putting few minor chords together and singing with a melancholic voice. If you do it bad, the composition usually turns out to be a sappy mess of meaningless emotions put together. In most cases, the greatest sad songs are from writers who unabashedly express their experiences with pain. The bands listed below show how it is done.

Suicide Note Pt. 1 – Pantera

A drug addict painfully sings this song. This addiction is built up on fear and drugs are his refuge. However this refuge doesn’t feel safe for him and he sings about his guilt, his disbelief in this fake world, reminding himself that this is only a way of cheating his pain, a mere placebo.

Here are some lyrics from the song to emphasize on the lyrical genius of this masterful composition.

Would you look at me now?

Can you tell I'm a man?

With these scars on my wrists

To prove I'll try again

Darkness Within – Machine Head

This song is like nightfall in the woods. Beautiful, calming, yet it scares the hell out of you. We all have some darkness within us. Even the most joyous ones. It somehow finds a way to affect you at times.  We all know this and we take some measures to heal ourselves from this darkness. The song is about using music for the same purpose. The lyric is pure poetry.  

Como Estas Amigos – Iron Maiden

When Iron Maiden writes a song about war, you are bound to be blown away. The song opens with a baritone curtain by Blaze asking ‘Como Estas Amigos’. The song is about of the Falklands war and the aftermath. The lyrics inspire hope to move forward from the horrors the war. When he sings

No more tears, no more tears

If we live for a hundred years

Amigos no more tears

you are left fighting a lump in your throat.

Wither - Dream Theater

Wither is about the dejected moments of our lives. The coldest emotional turmoil we are sometimes subject to. However strong we maybe, sometimes the sadness is overwhelming and we give in. Instead of fighting with it, it sometimes does help to just let it all out.  

Soldier of Fortune – Opeth

Originally by Deep Purple, the song is a mercenary’s narrative. He is battling with the choices he made for his own life, those which have resulted in losing the love of his life. As he is getting closer to death he wonders if this was worth at all. Give a dark song to Opeth and they’ll make it pitch dark, haunting and epic.

Solitude – Black Sabbath

Probably the most depressing song on this list. Solitude is about complete isolation. The person is singing about his worthless life and has absolutely no hope of it getting better, presumably the aftermath of a separation from his loved one. Ozzy’s melancholic voice draped over gentle guitars and the downtuned bass spawned one trippy masterpiece.

In This River – Black Label Society

The loss of the Dimebag Darell was one of the saddest moments in the history of metal. This song is a homage from one of his closest friends, Zakk Wylde. The beautiful chords on the grand piano and the lyrics not only reflect the friendship of the two but also make you feel his loss. It really touches your heart and you can’t help but miss Dime. R.I. P. Dimebag ‘Diamond’ Darrell.

In my Darkest Hour – Megadeth

Has darkness ever empowered you? I am talking about the feeling you get after getting so depressed that you want to end the damned thing forever; to go against it. I think the song does just that. It takes you through a sad journey and somehow gets you out of it. Makes you wonder if that phase was ever required at all. But I guess the phase is what completes you, allowing you to find your truest self, prepares you, frees you and most important of all, readies you for any darkness that might be heading your way.

P.S.  This is my favorite song of all time.

Angel  - Judas Priest

This song is a prayer. A prayer calling out to the angel of retribution to rid the sinner from all the sins he has committed. The sinner wants peace of mind in a better place and wants the angel to grant freedom. Trust Rob Halford to sing this gem of a song with all the sadness; it only leaves you with goose bumps.

Vermilion Pt. 2 – Slipknot

Slipknot has some really good and meaningful sad songs. I believe it’s their origins that source out such masterpieces. This song is about the end of a relationship. An aching breakup gives rise to a duality. The yang of trying to adapt and the yin of the pain; It’s a constant battle between the two. One moment you want to forget her, and the other moment you want her back. The lyrics are precise reflection of these thoughts and emphasize over the difficulty of dealing with this duality. Circa Vol 3: (The Subliminal Verses), Slipknot was at their darkest finest best.

Ten ‘out of the world’ metal/rock songs you don’t want to miss

Ever felt an unreal enlightenment while listening to a song? A feeling that cannot be described by words, but makes you feel you are in a place where there’s just music surrounding you and nothing else. A song that makes you forget that there is a world around you, freeing you of burdens, worries and everyone else. Now, that is an out of the world experience.

Here is my list of ten such songs that give you the same feeling, songs that don’t need any drugs to amplify any feeling. Just pure music.

Voice of a soul - Death

If there was ever a voice of the soul, this would be it. The song opens with an acoustic guitar intro which literally sends chills up my spine every time I listen to the song. Now as soon as the melody comes in, you die. No seriously, you die. You are now sailing in the dead sea of notes that comfort you, slowly  floating a first but gradually rising up to a storm of  extreme feelings, inspirations  and ecstasies you might have ever felt in your life. Before you know it, you are waking up from a dream, a dream which you have never ever had before.

For the love of God – Steve Vai

If you don’t know this already, Steve Vai is a very spiritual human and he wrote this song while on a seven day fast and recorded it one take. The song is one of his most famous works and it has earned its fame. The guitar is all that sings in this masterpiece and it certainly sings a majestic opera for your mind. This song could as well be the elevator music to heaven, if there is one.

Dreamer Deceiver – Judas Priest

Rob Halford, I bow down to thee. The key changes in the vocals are just unreal in this ballad and nobody else can do this better than Halford. The song gets you high, so high that you lose sight of the ground of reality. The solo takes you beyond the realms of the exosphere, into space, the space of the universe called bliss.

Count of Tuscany – Dream Theater

Such a song is only possible by Dream Theater. This 20 minute epic is one of the best pieces of music ever written.  The intro is pure magic. It is layered with sounds of beautiful acoustic passages, keyboard and guitar solos. The heavy riffing that follows only amplifies the experience so far. The lyrics narrate the story of a man revealing a near death experience after meeting a Count in Tuscany. The song then transcends into spellbinding and captivating acoustic strumming. The man in the narration is finally let free and the song trails into a mix of haunting and atmospheric sounds. The song not only generates a lot of unknown emotion in you but also forces you to live the narration. Soothing beach sounds finish the masterpiece which leaves you feeling content, joyous and free. 

Always with me, always with you – Joe Satriani

Some say this song is a musical counterpart to the act of making love. I would not disagree. The song flows from the delicate ‘muted’ moments of falling in love, the gradual blooming of feelings to each other and the animal attractions that follow the song into an orgasmic tapping solo. The guitar slowly recedes back into the intro melody, gently reminding the origination of love and finally fades out like an afterglow.

Planet Caravan – Pantera

Firstly, respect to Black Sabbath. This is their song and Pantera covered it.

Ever imagined flying in endless space. Watching the countless stars as you pass by, still not losing sight of the beauty of the sapphire earth below you, with a purple haze around it. You hear the black night sighing, the moon smiling through the canopy of space as you endlessly fly through the universe. Listen to this song; you don’t need to imagine this anymore.

Return to Serenity – Testament

The title should tell you enough. This song does exactly what it says. I can’t count the number of times I really returned to serenity after going through a lot of tense phases. The song takes you to the most peaceful place in your head which you have never travelled to. The solo is my favorite solo of all time and I think it is useless trying to find words to describe it.  Not saying more, here is an excerpt from the song itself;

Now that I've taken you to a place far from here
I really must go back, Close your eyes and we'll disappear.
Won't you come with me, salvation we'll share
Inside of my head now, there's a room for us there.

Marooned – Pink Floyd

I might as well put the whole discography of Pinky Floyd here. This band is the epitome of psychedelic music. I haven’t met a single person who says they listen to Pink Floyd and not lost their self in thought and in time.

Marooned is like an island. An island everyone wants to go to, alone. An island where there are calm beaches, hammocks, flying gulls and most of all, an island that is devoid of the burdens we carry all the time with us. All of us will agree that it will be wonderful to drop this burden for five minutes at least. So go ahead free you mind and make a trip to this island called Marooned.

Black Star – Yngwie J. Malmsteen

Any guitarist who wills to reach the upper echelons of technical guitar playing is bound to be inspired by YJM at some point through his life. Listening to Yngwie is like listening to a composer in all his glory. Whether you like his music or not you are bound to be absorbed by it. Albeit being one of the softer compositions of Yngwie, this is song is definitely the most intense.  It’s like matrimony between orchestral music and metal, combing the finest elements of both. Perfect. Just perfect.

Dance of Death – Iron Maiden

The holy grail of Iron Maiden’s music. There is not one song that can parallel this epic in the quality of storytelling. The song is beautiful, haunting, horrific, spellbinding and out of this f**king world. I’ll go so far and tell you that I was inspired to write this review because of this song. I was frozen still when I saw them play this live. It was as if there was a ritual happening right on stage and you are involuntarily a part of it. Iron Maiden is one of my favorite bands of all time and their music will continue to inspire me all my life. This song is only an epitome of all what Iron Maiden stands for and signifies each and every element of their musical genius.